Illness
by Rookblonkorules
Summary: An accident in battle leaves Sideswipe fighting for his life. Written with Purplehood.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N** This is a collaboration with one of my best friends, Purplehood, who is an amazing writing partner and also a terrific writer in general. In fact, you should go check out some of her stories on her account. :)

Just a little note, but this has not been edited yet and we will probably take care of editing... sometime... in the future. At the very least, we intend to.

 **Disclaimer:** Neither of us own Transformers, but, boy, do we wish we did. *evil smirk* We have had many a conversation on what we would do with that power. *evil laugh that fades slowly*

 **Chapter**

Sunstreaker walked hurriedly down the corridor, for once something other than his paint on his mind. "Ratchet!" he burst into the medic's room, where he was currently working on fixing a glitch in Bluestreak's processor.

"What is it now, Sunstreaker?" Ratchet demanded. "I really have no time for another scratch to your oh so immaculate paint job!"

"It's not that." Sunstreaker sounded uncharacteristically worried. It was enough to pique the medic's interest-and make him worry- as he straightened his frame and fixed his gaze on the yellow mech. "It's Sideswipe!" he continued, his optics wide. "I-I don't know what happened. We were just walking along and talking when he- he suddenly, I don't know, he just collapsed!"

Ratchet's optics shot up from his current patient, conflicting emotions on his faceplates. Was this another one of their pranks? But as he scrutinised Sunstreaker thoroughly, his fears were confirmed. Something WAS wrong.

"Take me to him," Ratchet said immediately, helping Bluestreak sit up. Without bothering to say anything, Sunstreaker whirled and led Ratchet out the room. Ratchet felt himself reflecting on their twin bond. Having never had a twin (the occurrence of twins was rare) he didn't know exactly what Sunstreaker was going through, but it was no secret that the two of them were close, inseparable. It must have taken a lot of willpower for Sunstreaker to leave his twin and come fetch Ratchet. If anything were to happen to Sideswipe... No, he couldn't let him think that way. He knew for sure it would destroy Sunstreaker, maybe even kill him. Right then, he swore to do whatever it would take to save Sideswipe...

Sunstreaker practically ran down the corridor, leaving Ratchet desperate to keep up. The yellow twin was in a panic; he could feel his brother's sharp pain in his spark. What was happening?! It had been at least two cycles since their last encounter with the Decepticons. It didn't make sense for Sideswipe to just suddenly drop to the ground, spasms of pain shooting through him. And Sunstreaker could feel it all as well.

He turned the corner to where the incident had taken place just minutes before. And as his optics reached his brother's figure, he stopped short in shock.

Sideswipe was unconscious on the floor. His optics dark and his mouth partially opened, a trail of energon trickling out.

Sunstreaker let out a mournful cry.

Falling to his knees, he cradled his brother's limp form in his arms. He felt Ratchet's hand on his shoulder, gently prodding him to move aside and let him have a look at him. Sunstreaker complied, making room for the medic but refusing to release his hold on his twin.

The first sight of Sideswipe had sent a spasm of fear through Ratchet's spark. He'd thought the battle to save Sideswipe's life had been lost before it really began, but the immediate scan he did revealed a faint, but steady spark beat.

He heard Sunstreaker's voice beside him in a plaintive whimper. "It hurts," he gasped out. "Something's really wrong. I can feel his pain."

"I know. I know," Ratchet answered gently, turning to the twin. "But, he's still alive. Let's get him to the medbay."

Sunstreaker nodded weakly, looking back down at his brother. "What happened, Ratch? Is he gonna be okay?" he asked, his voice hardly louder than a whisper. He secretly dreaded the answer. Things weren't looking so good.

Ratchet frowned. "I'm not sure yet," the words came out before he could stop them. He cringed to himself before glancing over towards Sunstreaker.

The yellow mech squeezed his optics shut, his faceplates clearly showing his pain. A thousand questions raced through his processor. None of which had a decent answer.

They needed help immediately.

Numbly, Sunstreaker assisted in lifting his catatonic brother and carried him gingerly towards the medbay where they lay him on a berth. Ratchet's gaze shifted from one brother to the next before finally resting on Sunstreaker. "Go," he said, hating the word since he knew the mental agony Sunstreaker would endure while separated from his twin-especially in this state. "I need you to inform the others. I can't leave him." For a moment, Sunstreaker stared at him as if what he had said didn't even register with him, but then he nodded dully. Before leaving, he turned towards Ratchet. 'Promise me you'll save him."

Ratchet knew full well that he couldn't truthfully do such a thing. He didn't know what Sideswipe's chances of survival were at this point and he wouldn't know until he made an official diagnose. He opened his mouth to say all these things, but instead, what came out was, "I promise."

 **A/N** We do have more chapters written (although the fic is not yet complete). I just don't know when they'll be posted. Especially because we have worked ourselves into a corner and really need to edit something. :/

Anyways, hope you enjoyed this first chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N** First of all, I want to thank everyone who has either added this story to their favorites list or to their alerts and I also want to thank Sasha Alexandra for leaving a review. :) We both (Purple and I) hope you enjoy this next chapter.

 **Disclaimer:** As much as it pains me to admit it, neither Purplehood nor I own Transformers or its characters... yet. If everything goes according to plan, we well indeed might. *evil smirk* Until then, Transformers belongs to Hasbro . :(

 **Chapter** **Two**

Sunstreaker excepted the words and walked out.

Ratchet let out a sigh that seemed louder in the silent room than it should have. Glancing at the still figure on the berth, he mouthed an apology before quickly racing to get an energon-drip ready.

In truth, the medic hadn't the slightest idea of what could have happened to Sideswipe. Of course, he would have to examine him first before making any assumptions. But, it was extremely out of the ordinary: Sideswipe was up-to-date with his checkups, his systems had been working just fine the day before. Even now, Ratchet couldn't detect any outward damage to the bot's frame.

"Ratchet."

The medic turned to face the newcomers standing by the door, awaiting permission to enter. Ratchet would have smiled in different circumstances at the fact that every bot, even Prime, knew better than to barge in while he was working.

"How is he?" the first one ventured a little timidly.

"I can't say, Bumblebee," Ratchet said solemnly as he finished hooking things up to Sideswipe and began running tests on him. 'Is Sunstreaker going to get Prime?" The other, Smokescreen, nodded solemnly.

"We came once Sunstreaker told us what happened." He looked anxiously at the unmoving form on the berth. Ratchet nodded briskly and turned back to the readings that were showing the scan results.

"Primus," he whispered, suddenly, jerking up straighter.

"What?" Bumblebee and Smokescreen asked at the same time.

"I need you to find both Prime and Sunstreaker and hurry. Something's very, very wrong."

...

Sunstreaker sat down, unable to keep from fidgeting.

Optimus was standing next to him looking gravely concerned about whatever Ratchet had told him.

It was killing Sunstreaker. No one was telling him anything, and he could guess that wasn't a good sign. His brother's pain was an ache in the back of his spark, only slightly dulled. He didn't know whether or not that was a good thing. All he wanted was to be by Sideswipe's side till the end, no matter what.

After what seemed like forever, Ratchet entered the room and slowly made his way over to the two. Once he was standing before them, he carefully looked over Sunstreaker, who was still struggling to stop shaking.

The medic took a deep breath and continued.

"Sunstreaker, I'm not going to lie; your brother is in a critical condition." He paused to let the information sink in. "I need you to tell us what happened during that fight a couple of days ago."

Sunstreaker opened his mouth to respond as memories flooded his mind.

2 days earlier

 _The fight had been going well, in Sunstreaker's mind at least. He'd managed to knock the socks off of several Decepticons without sustaining anything more than a slight scratch on his armor-but he'd already made the perpetrator pay. The rest of his team, Sideswipe, Hound and Jazz, seemed to be doing fine, but Sunstreaker was too focused on his own battle to pay attention._

 _He swung his fist at the next Decepticon, one of the Seekers, only for him to shimmer and disappear into thin air. Skywarp's stupid teleportation trick again!_

 _He growled and spun around, trying to guess where the wily Decepto-creep would next show up... only to take a blow to the back, knocking him to his hands and knees. Behind him, the Decepticon chuckled. "Works everytime, Auto-dope!" he taunted, with his servos on his hips._

 _Out of the corner of his optics, Sunstreaker saw a red flash launch itself into Skywarp from behind. "Not this time!" Sideswipe returned, tackling the Seeker to the ground, with a grin that he turned towards his twin. "Looks like you needed a little help, Sunny."_

 _Sunstreaker clambered to his feet. "This was my fight!" he protested, but before Sideswipe could come up with a retort, the struggling Decepticon suddenly shimmered and vanished from underneath him._

 _"S-lag!" Sideswipe cursed, realizing the trick had happened again. The air behind Sideswipe flickered and Skywarp was suddenly there._

 _"Sides, behind you!" he shouted in warning, rushing forward to get the 'Con away from his twin._

 _Sideswipe started to react, but before he had raised himself more than a couple inches, Skywarp had both his wrists in a firm grip and was dragging him backwards._

 _"Too slow!" Skywarp mocked as Sideswipe struggled furiously._

 _"Let go of me, Decepto-freak!"_

 _The Decepticon continued to pull the Autobot back, laughing maniacally as he did so._

 _Sunstreaker ran forward, trying to get a clear shot._

 _"Watch it, Autobot. You might hit your pal here," Skywarp laughed as he pulled Sideswipe into a choke-hold, using him as a makeshift shield._

 _Sunstreaker glared as Sideswipe gasped in frustration and attempted to pry himself loose._

 _"You should learn to watch your back!" Hound shouted from behind the 'Con._

 _Sunstreaker smirked as his ally aimed at the Seeker and fired._

 _Skywarp let out a holler of pain when the blast hit him between the wings. He loosened his hold of his hostage, who elbowed him hard before rejoining his twin. Skywarp boiled with anger. He couldn't just let an Autobot get away unscathed. With a cry of fury, he aimed his weapon. "From me to you, autobot!"_

 _Before Sideswipe could move, the Decepticon shot him square in the chassis. Sunstreaker watched in horror as his twin doubled over and collapsed to the ground. He barely registered the shouts of dismay coming from Hound and Jazz._

 _"Sideswipe!" He ran to his brother's side and slid Sideswipe's arm over his shoulder, helping him to his pedes._

 _He shot a furious glare in Skywarp's direction, but the Seeker had taken the opportunity to teleport away. "You okay?" he asked Sideswipe, helping him to sit down._

 _Sideswipe brought a servo to his helm and nodded briefly. "I-I think so," he said, just as Hound and Jazz approached._

 _"Decepto-rat didn't hurt you, did he?" Hound asked worriedly. Sideswipe nodded again and protested vehemently when Jazz and Sunstreaker tried to assist him._

The memory ended and Sunstreaker met Ratchet's optics. "At the last battle," he began slowly. "Sideswipe was...taken hostage by Skywarp." He could see both Optimus and Ratchet stiffen as it was the first they had ever heard of this. "He-he got away, but Skywarp hit him with... something." He buried his faceplates into his servos as grief and guilt overwhelmed him. "I don't understand it! All the scans said he was fine!

"And you DIDN'T TELL ME THIS BEFORE?" Ratchet shouted before he could get a hold of his emotions.

Optimus put a servo on the medic's shoulder as Sunstreaker sunk back in his seat.

"Calm down, old friend. Anger is not going to help anyone," the leader stated.

Sunstreaker covered his faceplate with his servos and lowered his helm. "It's all my fault! Oh Primus, it's my fault! I'm so sorry! Sideswipe!" the yellow mech gasped in misery, his voice crackling with static as he trembled.

Optimus put a comforting servo on Sunstreaker's shoulder, but the yellow and black twin was barely aware of the contact. Instead a memory of his twin convulsing as the energy from whatever new gadget Skywarp had picked up coursed through his systems.

Why the Pit had he not thought to tell Ratchet? His twin had seemed completely fine, but now... well, Sideswipe was the complete opposite of fine.

"What's done is done," Optimus told him. "The most we can do here is hope that Ratchet can find a way to cure Sideswipe of his current affliction."

"Yes, and, I'm sorry, Sunstreaker. I shouldn't have yelled like that before," the medic whispered with a sigh. Sunstreaker looked worse than before, probably as a result of Ratchet's foolish outburst. The medic felt horrible. His job was to do what was best for the patient to save him; he most certainly wasn't supposed to increase the pain of the injury.

Optimus patted the twin on the shoulder before turning to walk away, leaving the two bots alone in the room.

Sunstreaker stifled the sob swelling the back of his throat. He felt like he could purge from the oppressive regret he was feeling. The painful ache in his spark continued to throb within him, never decreasing, but increasing the anxiousness of the situation. "Ratchet," he finally spoke up in what sounded like a cracked gasp, "I think-" But his sentence was abruptly cut off by the explosion of pain that blasted through the bond.

Sunstreaker, doubled over, clutching at his chassis. He felt Optimus's servos supporting him, while Ratchet turned and began to frantically attempting to stabilize Sideswipe.

Sunstreaker gasped as another shot of pain spiked through his body. How was it possible for his twin to be feeling this much pain in stasis?

Just then, he heard a voice through his agony. "S-sunny?"

 **A/N**

So there's chapter two... I think we have a much better cliffhanger ending here than last time. Hope you enjoyed.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N** I was hoping to be able to get this posted yesterday, but, as things worked out, I wasn't able to. I want to thank everybody who's left a review or favorited/followed this story.

Sunstreaker lurched forward with a cry. "Sides!"

"Sunstreaker, I d-don't know w-what's ha-p-ppening!" his brother's voice cried out through their bond, distorted in pain.

Sunstreaker desperately tried to force his way to the berth, but Optimus held him back by his shoulders. "Let me go!" he shrieked, his optics flickering on overload.

"Primus!" He heard Ratchet curse. "His systems are rejecting Energon!"

"Sideswipe!" Sunstreaker shouted. Another shot of pain was the only answer he received.

"What do you mean, Ratchet?" Optimus asked, holding the distraught twin back.

"Let me go to him!" Sunstreaker cried, straining forward.

'Precisely that," Ratchet answered. "I don't know what Skywarp slagging did to him with that shot..." the rest of his words trailed off in a series of mutterings.

"Sides?" Sunstreaker tried to reach him through their bond, but there was no immediate response. "Sides!" Sunstreaker was getting more desperate. "Sides, please answer me!"

No answer. Only cold, depressing silence. And the pain of his twin.

The yellow and black bot crumpled on the floor, his voice fading into incomprehensible static. Optimus pulled him up and set him on the bench.

"Sunstreaker?" the leader called, his voice muffled in the twin's audials. "Please respond."

Sunstreaker went limp, a blank expression possessing his face as he stared into the distance. "Sides," he managed to stutter out before everything went black.

"Ratchet's, what's happening?" Optimus demanded, laying Sunstreaker down on his back.

"The twin bond is causing whatever's hurting Sideswipe to affect Sunstreaker as well," the medic said, bending over the injured mech. "At the moment, the only thing is to get Sunstreaker out of here. And..." His gaze met Optimus's.

"And what?" the Autbot leader prompted, lifting Sunstreaker.

"And I need you to take a team to find Skywarp. I need to know the s-lagger did to him."

"Right," Optimus answered before edging out of the room with Sunstreaker.

Ratchet looked back down at the red painted twin. The readings from the scans were showing that the mech was conscious, which explained why Sunstreaker was so strongly affected. The medic had tried to induce stasis twice already without success. Any pain relievers were being repelled or rejected. And now Sideswipe's Energon levels were rapidly decreasing.

What was going on? Ratchet had never seen anything like it.

 **A/N**

 **SnazzyFighter098** I'm glad to hear you loved it! Thanks so much for the review and we'll definitely try to be prompt with updates so you don't have to wait too long. :)

 **AzalieKirkland** Thanks so much! And I feel exactly the same way about angst! :D


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N** Sooo since the last chapter was so short, I'm going to publish the fourth chapter to make up for it... Hope you enjoy! :D

 **Disclaimer** Nope. Transformers is still not ours. We haven't even had time to hatch a new plan. ;)

 **Chapter Four**

The medic sighed, passing a servo over his faceplates. He wasn't one to give up easily, but if he were honest with himself, Sideswipe would be gone if he couldn't find the source of the problem. And if the other Autobots couldn't find Skywarp, the chances of that happening were minimal at best.

Which was why his promise to Sunstreaker was ridiculous... but the thing was, Ratchet didn't want to be honest with himself. He had every intention of seeing that promise fulfilled.

His remembered the time when he first became the guardian of the unruly pair of twins. He had sworn to do everything to protect them back then and he would continue to do so now, no matter how impossible it seemed.

Sideswipe's optics flickered as Ratchet carefully straightened out the wires and tubes hooked up to the bot, the only things keeping his Energon levels above the critically low point.

Ratchet frowned, "Don't die on me, Sideswipe," he whispered.

...

"What happened to him?"

Optimus answered the question with a worried frown. He had carefully put Sunstreaker down on the bench in the rec room, causing a small cluster of bots to crowd around in curiosity. It probably wasn't the smartest idea to drop the traumatized mech into the servos of his anxious friends, but Sunstreaker was in need of company.

The Prime had noticed how the twin acted when facing his brother: most likely they were communicating through the spark-bond, completely oblivious to the outside world and everybot existing within it.

Their connection was so strong. The split spark between them was dependant on the other's survival.

Optimus silently scolded himself for turning a blind eye to the situation. If either twin offlined, the other would almost undoubtedly follow soon after.

That, he vowed, would not happen.

Turning to face his friends and comrades, he spotted the bot he was looking for. "Perceptor, assist Ratchet in the med-bay." The red and black mech nodded before hurrying to do as his commander had told him. Prime scanned the faces around him and selected the three he felt were most suited for the job. "Mirage, Smokescreen and Hound, I need you three to come with me." He paused a moment before continuing. "We need to track down Skywarp and find out what exactly he's done to Sideswipe." Optimus gave one last look to the still unconscious Sunstreaker.

The Prime then turned to the door, gesturing for the three chosen soldiers to follow.

The rest of the bots in the room dispersed, each returning to their respective duties. Bumblebee and Bluestreak remained by Sunstreaker's side, ready to help their comrade if he awoke.

Once out of the room, Optimus briefed the mechs for the mission.

"So, any ideas on where to find that 'Con, Prime?" Smokescreen questioned eagerly, his shifting movement indicating his excitement, his expression, however, retaining the seriousness of the situation.

Optimus grimaced beneath the face mask. The honest answer to that was he didn't know, but he refused to believe that there wasn't a way. For Sideswipe's sake, they had to try something.

"Well, we haven't had any conflict with the Decepticons since the fight a couple of days ago. It could be that they are unaware of Skywarp's new found power. In that case, we may have to lure our enemy out to gain contact with Skywarp," Optimus stated, trying his best to sound confident.

"Is there a plan B?" Mirage asked. "You know, just in case we're unable to get their attention," he quickly added.

"That is why I have chosen you three," the Prime continued. "Hound's tracking, your cloaking and knowledge of the enemy's HQ, and Smokescreen's unique attacks will assist us on our mission."

"You mean we're going to capture the Seeker, don't you?" Hound concluded thoughtfully.

"If possible," Optimus answered. "Sideswipe's life may depend on it."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Soooo *taps fingers together* I never really can think of what to say in A/Ns (I'm only pretending I know what to say in all the others), but I want to start out by thanking everyone who's favorited, reviewed, followed or even just read up to this point in the story. You all are awesome!**

 **Disclaimer** No, Transformers is still not ours.

...

 **Chapter Five**

There was a moment of silence as the grave message Optimus's words carried sank in before it was broken by the leader's powerful voice commanding, "Transform and roll out!" The foursome shifted to alt-mode and left the base. It was then that Optimus realized there were several things that could go wrong. He didn't really know how they were going to attract Megatron's attention, although in the past it hadn't proved to be too hard a thing to accomplish. Second, there was no saying the Skywarp would even be one of the 'Cons sent out.

Optimus sighed. That was why they had Plan B.

The problem with Plan B, though, was that Optimus didn't want to risk any of the three Autobots with him now being subjugated to the same situation Sideswipe was in.

...

Sideswipe had no idea how much time had passed since he had lost all ability to move or see. All he knew was that something horrible was happening to him, to his internal systems, and to his spark. He could feel it, the life energy draining from his body. The pain shooting through his chassis and tingling in his limbs: It felt like he was being rewired into a completely different being. And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't fall into recharge; his body just refused to go into stasis.

The sharp sting in his spark kept Sideswipe aware of his brother's anxiety through their bond: Sunstreaker could feel the pain too, even if he wasn't suffering the same condition.

Sideswipe prayed that his twin wasn't. Concentrating all his remaining energy into his split spark, he had called out to the yellow mech in desperation...

And he had received an answer, which had allowed a tinge of relief to flow through the bond: a light in the solitary darkness around him.

Of course, he couldn't keep the communication up for long, but it was good enough. Sunny was okay. For now at least.

And Sideswipe could hear the dim mumblings of Ratchet's gruff voice above him...

Not enough to make out what he was saying, but knowing there was someone looking out for him made him feel slightly better. After all, Ratchet had practically always been there for him and his brother.

Still, the terror of being in a completely catatonic state was in no way relieved. He wanted to move again. To be able to see Sunny. To talk to him. To tell Ratchet what exactly was bothering him. To be able to hear the response clearly.

He tried to reach out through the bond again. "Sunny?"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N** Woo hoo! Chapter six! Once again, I want to thank everyone for reading/reviewing/following/favoriting this story and I hope you're enjoying it so far. :)

 **Disclaimer:** *sigh* Okay, okay, Transformers is still property of Hasbro. :p

 **Chapter Six**

Sunstreaker onlined his optics in a panic. How long had he been unconscious?! Jumping up, he almost smashed into the small yellow bot standing by the bench.

The young mech, Bumblebee, stumbled back; so started that he lost his balance and fell to the floor with a thud. Sunstreaker towered over him, frantically looking around in confusion.

"Where am I?! Where's Sideswipe?!" he demanded in a shaky static-impaired voice.

"Whoa there, Sunny!" Bluestreak quickly placed a servo on Sunstreaker's shoulder and gently pushed him back into a sitting position before turning to help Bumblebee off the ground.

Sunstreaker sat there shivering and panting, glancing between his two friends with wide optics as he remembered everything that had happened. Yes, it was all coming back now. Sideswipe was in the medbay, fighting for his life. And Sunstreaker had been calling to him. And there had been no answer.

Sunstreaker leaned forward, afraid he really was going to purge. Bluestreak sat down next to him. "You alright, buddy?"

Sunstreaker tried to reply but all that came out was a shuddering groan and he put his face in his servos, leaning forward and rocking slightly with grief.

Bumblebee gave Bluestreak a worried frown. This was not the Sunstreaker they were all used to.

He placed a servo on the yellow painted twin's shoulder. "Sideswipe's gonna pull through this okay?"

Bluestreak nodded in agreement. "You can count on Ratch and Percy!"

Sunstreaker lifted his helm slightly and managed to flash a weak smile at the two.

Bumblebee had always been like a little brother to him and Sideswipe. Being the cheerful little guy he was, he had helped everyone pull through even the roughest points of the war. And Bluestreak was one of the greatest friends, always there when anyone needed someone to talk to.

"Thanks," Sunstreaker whispered back, the word hardly audible.

Bumblebee smiled and patted his shoulder as the yellow twin took a deep breath. Straightening up, Sunstreaker swallowed down the knot in his throat.

"Skywarp," he choked out, "we have to..." He suddenly found himself growing more and more desperate. "He's the only one who... who knows what's going on with Sideswipe!"

Bluestreak gently pushed Sunstreaker back to the berth. "We know. That's where Prime went."

Sunstreaker shuttered his optics. "I should be with him. Sideswipe's my twin. It's my fault what happened to him." Bluestreak and Bumblebee exchanged looks, unsure whether or not he meant he should be with Prime or Sideswipe.

Finally, Bluestreak spoke up. "It's not your fault. The only mech at fault here is that s-lagging pit spawn Seeker.."

"Yeah! And Optimus is going to find him," Bumblebee chimed in. "Sideswipe will be back in action really soon!"

"Yup. Kickin' 'Con tailpipe with the rest of us," Bluestreak concluded, crossing his arms and leaning back.

Sunstreaker only stared at the floor, nothing in his expression showing that he even heard them. And as a matter of fact, he hadn't been listening to the two bots. He was focused solely on the voice speaking to him from the bond: Sideswipe's voice.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N** Goodness, this chapter is short. Sorry about that. I have no idea why I choose to make each chapter so small. :P Anyways, though, here's chapter seven.

 **Disclaimer:** Transformers is still property of Hasbro... That's getting a little tedious to keep saying. :(

Sunny?" Sunstreaker was surprised by the amount of pure desperation he heard in his twin's voice.

"Sides, I'm here," he answered, reaching out through his half of the bond.

"H-Hey bro," Sideswipe stuttered, weak with relief. "Not fe-elin'... so... great."

"I know," Sunstreaker whispered as another wave of pain rushed through their connection. "I'm so sorry."

" 's not... your... f-fault," the injured twin stated.

Sunstreaker frowned as his brother continued, "But... what's ha-ppening... to me?"

The yellow mech jumped up from the berth, causing Bumblebee to cock his head in a questioning manner.

Bluestreak intercepted Sunstreaker as he tried to bolt. "Hey, ease up. They gave strict orders for you to keep off your pedes."

"Sideswipe needs me," the twin panted, clawing to get past. "I can hear him! I can hear him!" Bluestreak felt shaken when he heard the amount of desperation present in the mech's voice. He shared a look with Bumblebee and realized the yellow mini-bot felt the same way.

"Look," Bluestreak continued, "it seems when you two are in the same room, whatever's bugging your bro affects you too. Do you think that's what he wants?"

Sunstreaker fell silent, choosing to go back to communicating to his brother through their bond. "I don't know what Skywarp did to you, Sides, but I'm going to find him." He paused for a moment. "And once he's reversed whatever he did to you, I'm gonna make him pay."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N** As of now, this story has around 740 hits. You guys are awesome! Thankfully, this chapter is longer than most of the others... Chapter nine is complete, however, I have no idea when I'll be able to post it since I'm going away for a week. That also means there'll be a delay for chapter ten. Hopefully, it won't be too long though.

 **Disclaimer:** Nope, we still don't have the rights to Transformers... :(

Decepticon base, two days earlier:

Skywarp stormed through the base, his wings set back in irritation. Slaggin' Autobots; he could have screamed in frustration. The stinging burn on his back plates was still throbbing in pain since he had returned from the failed Energon raid. Which one had dared to shoot him again? Hound, was it?

Skywarp growled as his wings twitched in anticipation at his anger, causing a spike of pain to shoot up his spine. The Seeker cringed, stopping in his tracks and leaned against the wall for support.

It was humiliating. Not that he had let his guard down, (they all had done that, even Megatron,) no, it was that the fraggin' new "weapon" was a dud. The shot was aimed perfectly, hit dead-center, point-blank, but the s-laggin' Autobot hadn't been deactivated. Hardly even knocked off his pedes.

The Seeker slammed his fist into the wall.

"Watch it!" a miniscule voice called out to him. "Can't have you damaging the walls! Frenzy and I just washed those." Skywarp turned to glower at the minicon at his feet.

A thousand insults came to mind, but what he finally growled was, "Shut up, Rumble."

The Seeker didn't even wait for the pipsqueak's retort. Stomping away, he set his optics on the medbay doors and pounded the control panel impatiently. As the doors slid open, Skywarp dragged himself through.

"Skywarp? Back so soon?" the sassy voice of the medic rhetorically questioned as he entered.

The Seeker answered with a glare before scanning the room for an empty berth. He finally settled on one near the corner. It seemed like a good choice seeing as the two other patients didn't look like they were in a very good mood either. It was probably best to retain a safe distance from everyone.

The flier swiftly began towards his chosen spot, but halted suddenly when he noticed the tri-colored figure standing off to his right, one hand on his hip, optics fixed on a datapad held in his servo: Starscream.

Skywarp scowled bitterly. "Hey, Screamer!" he called out. His commander glanced over.

"Skywarp," he acknowledged before his gaze dropped back to the datapad.

Narrowing his optics, the wounded Seeker angrily stormed over. "Ya know that new weapon you entrusted to me, Screamy?"

Starscream didn't even look up. "Yup."

"Well, the slaggin' thing doesn't work!" Skywarp lashed out the words.

"What do you mean it doesn't work?" Starscream demanded.

"What it sounds like!" Skywarp returned, drawing his lip back into a snarl. "I already used it. It doesn't work! The Autobot hardly even reacted." He clenched his servos angrily, remembering the incident from later that day.

"Skywarp, you are an idiot," Starscream hissed before looking back down at his datapad.

"What the fraggin' pit are you getting at?!" Skywarp practically shrieked as Starscream 's insult hit him. Grabbing hold of his commander's arm, he tugged angrily, attempting to regain Starscream's attention.

The Seeker commander jerked away in frustration. "I mean, were you even listening when Shockwave filled us in on the details concerning the weapon?!" Starscream growled, jabbing a finger at his subordinate. "Primus, I didn't think you were this stupid!"

"What details?" Skywarp asked. He would have been angry at the insult if he hadn't been so intrigued by the rest of Starscream's comments.

His obvious eagerness earned him an optic-roll from the air commander, who otherwise didn't comment anymore on his alleged "stupidity." "It's not supposed to do its damage on the inside." Starscream sniggered as an unpleasant smirk formed on his faceplates. "It effects the internal workings."

Skywarp simply stared at him in confusion. "And? So?" he asked as he frowned in frustration.

Starscream made a noise that sounded like something between a sigh and growl. "You really are stupid, aren't you?"

The black and purple Seeker shifted impatiently, causing a sharp pain to shoot up his back once again. "Would quit slaggin' with me already?" he hissed at his commander.

Starscream waved a servo at him. "The weapon causes the spark to go into an over-working cycle, overloading the internal systems. It then begins to feed off the energon within the body in the attempt to gain more energy. Basically, it then consumes itself when there's no energon left... or at least eventually. I don't know. That's what Shockwave said at least."

"Weird," Skywarp said as he tried to picture the process in his mind.

"Indeed," Starscream answered, uninterested. He looked back down at his datapad. "Who'd you hit, by the way?"

"Sideswipe," Skywarp growled, settling himself down on a berth as he waited for the air commander to get around to fixing his wing struts. He smirked at the remembrance though. He had certainly enjoyed the expression on the yellow one when he'd realized the Seeker had had his brother at his mercy. The fear had been so perfect, so enjoyable to behold.

His musings were suddenly cut short when he felt a shooting pain suddenly spike from his wings. "Gah!" he shrieked, before turning furiously. "Watch what you're doing, Screamer," he hissed.

"Idiot," Starscream muttered. "If you want these wings fixed, you're going to have to let me look at them. And that means pain."

Skywarp scowled, his gaze settling back on the floor. "I agree; you are a pain," he finally growled after a few seconds of silence.

"Shut up," the air commander hissed.

...

Present Time

Optimus let out a long sigh, turning his gaze to take in the three Autobots who stood beside him. "This is where it happened?" he asked Hound. He didn't know why he thought coming to the exact location would help them find Skywarp, but he had to hope, for Sideswipe's, as well as Sunstreaker's sake, that it would.

"Okay," he began, "let's put our plan into action."

Hound nodded before carefully setting a cylinder shaped object on the ground. Once he had it in place, he looked up towards Optimus. "All set," he said.

Optimus nodded.

"How long till we get the 'Cons' attention?" Mirage questioned as he traced a finger down his sniper rifle.

Hound answered with a shrug. "Well, this device is supposed to transmit a signal similar to energon. I guess it depends on when they pick it up."

"So... In other words, we don't know?" Smokescreen suddenly felt his spark droop in disappointment. "We could be here for hours!" he moaned.

"Well no," the tracker quickly stated, "we can pin point anything that picks up our transmission. And the device is filtered to aim at Decepticon frequencies. You know how often we come across Laserbeak or Buzzsaw. The 'Cons would be glitched not to investigate a sudden spike of energon."

"And when they do?" Mirage questioned.

"We'll be waiting." Optimus clenched his fist. "And we have to hope Skywarp is with them."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N** First of all, thank you to all of our amazing readers and those who have favorited/followed or reviewed this story. It's much appreciated and serves as the inspiration (and motivation;P)for our writing. We have a guest speaker for this update-none other than Purplehood herself. I should probably tell you that we've hatched a new 'll hear about it in a moment.

 **Disclaimer:** Hello people! This is Purplehood. I have taken over for this chapter! MUHAHAHAHA! I might or might not have my writing partner, Rookblonkorules, tied up in a dark room next to a bomb. Do not attempt a rescue. I am holding her for ransom until Hasbro gives me the rights to The Transformers and all related characters. Ta ta!

( Do not take this seriously.)

 **Chapter Nine**

Ratchet placed a servo over Sideswipe's helm and frowned as he looked back over the readings on the screen.

"How long has he been unconscious?" Perceptor's voice brought the medic back to the present. His optics shot over to the red and black scientist standing several yards away.

"Perceptor?" He shouldn't have been surprised. It was just like Optimus to send him help, especially in a crisis like this. Perceptor's skills could prove lifesaving.

The red 'bot nodded. "Optimus sent me," he explained, confirming Ratchet 's theory. He gestured toward the twin on the berth. "How long has Sideswipe been in stasis?"

Ratchet pinched the bridge between his eyes before making his answer. "He's not."

"He's not what?" Perceptor tilted his helm in confusion, his blue optics glancing from Sideswipe to Ratchet and back.

"He's not in stasis!" Ratchet practically yelled, lifting his hands in the air for emphasis. "I don't know why! I don't know how! I... I just can't…"

"What do you mean he's not in stasis?" Perceptor gasped, turning to look the medic full in the face.

"The scans are showing him to be fully conscious. His systems won't even accept painkillers." He sank onto one of the berths and buried his helm in his servos. "Primus knows what kind of agony the poor kid is going through right now."

"Primus," Perceptor whispered to himself. "That's horrible."

Ratchet didn't even look up. "I... I'm not even sure he's going to make through this cycle."

The red scientist frowned at the doubtful statement and walked over to the twin's berth. After giving him a good look over, Perceptor turned back to the medic. "Is it possible to get an energon sample from him?"

Ratchet's helm shot up frantically from his servos. "He hardly has enough to keep him alive!"

"Have you been replenishing his energon?"

"Primus! Yes!" Ratchet shrieked, offended that Perceptor could have even asked such a question. "But he's not keeping it in. His body seems to be using it up too quickly. I've never seen anything like it."

Perceptor shook his helm gravely. "Neither have I."

That settled it for Ratchet. If they're scientific genius had no idea what to do then he felt as if all hope was completely lost. "I failed him!" he moaned. "I failed them!" If one twin went out, he knew full well the other one would too. Practically everyone knew what had happened to Twin Twist and Topspin. It looked as if the same would happen here. He had sworn when the were both newsparks that he wouldn't let anything happen to them and- How could he have let his promise be broken?

Perceptor watched as the medic went into an uncharacteristic bout of despair. "Ratchet," he finally said, "doing nothing will only ensure... and probably hasten... his death."

"I know," Ratchet whispered bringing a servo to his forehead. "But what are we going to do, Perceptor? I've tried everything!"

The scientist sighed before turning away. "I don't know, but we have to do something... even if it's most minimal amount of help we can offer, Ratchet. I'm not going to let Sideswipe die, and I already know you would give your life to save these twins."

Ratchet stared down at the metal floor in silence.

"Maybe that's what I have to do," Ratchet murmured.

"What?" Perceptor gasped, horrified. "Ratchet, when I said that, I didn't mean for you to get ideas of throwing your life away in the hopes that it might do some good."

Ratchet turned a weary gaze at his friend. "What do you suggest?"

Perceptor placed a servo on Ratchet's shoulder. "I need you to let me take an energon sample. A small one at least. I need to know what's happening to him."

Ratchet inhaled deeply. "Fine," he whispered, "but if the situation calls for it, I want you to do whatever is necessary for Sideswipe's survival." He jabbed a finger at Perceptor to enforce the command. "Understood?"

Perceptor hesitated at what Ratchet was implying. "Y-yes," he finally agreed with a slight nod of his helm.

Ratchet stared at him for a moment, before nodding. "Good."

Perceptor turned away from him, selecting a needle that he injected into Sideswipe's arm, swiftly drawing some of the blue colored liquid for examination. "Once I have the sample analyzed, I should be able to decipher the problem with his systems. If not..." He looked at Ratchet.

"That analysis had better work, Perceptor," he growled, gritting his denta.

"Please, Ratchet," Perceptor replied, not allowing himself to be intimidated by the medic, "let's just hope it does."

Ratchet grumbled something incomprehensible under his breath as the scientist made his way over to one of the computers.

"The results should be determined in a little while," Perceptor continued. "We'll just have to keep Sideswipe in a stable condition until then." The red mech glanced back over at the twin. "Ratchet, have you heard from Optimus recently?" he asked, not taking his gaze away from Sideswipe.

The medic shook his helm. "No. I haven't heard from him since they left."

Perceptor nodded his head thoughtfully. "Hmmmm." His optics widened. "Primus!"

Ratchet glanced at Perceptor. "What is it?"

"Where's Sunstreaker?!" the scientist gasped, the look in his optics grave.

Ratchet tilted his helm in confusion. "I'm not sure. Optimus brought him out of here after Sideswipe's condition worsened. Why?"

Perceptor rubbed a servo over his faceplates once. "With Sideswipe in this condition and Sunstreaker feeling useless, it's entirely plausible that he could decide to do something that would normally be against his better judgement."

"To be completely honest with you, Perceptor, I don't think Sunstreaker has any of that," Ratchet muttered, but already he was cursing himself for not having thought of that possibility himself.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N** Hey everyone! Sooo, here's the chapter ten! Thank you to all you amazing readers. Purple and I hope you're enjoying reading this as much as we're enjoying writing it. :D

 **Disclaimer** Ummm,

 **Chapter Ten**

"Perhaps you should sit down," Bluestreak attempted to reason with the pacing twin. He moved his position on the bench and patted the place next to him encouragingly. "Please."

He and Bumblebee watched as Sunstreaker stormed his way to one end of the room to the other, his expression changing from anger to dismay and back. "No," he said shortly. "I shouldn't be here."

His companions shared a look. Bumblebee shifted uncomfortably. "Wadda ya mean, Sunny? 'Course you should be here!"

Sunstreaker shot the yellow minibot a frantic glance. "I should be here?" he questioned in an unnerving tone. "Here!" He gestured around the room, his hands shaking frantically. "No, Bumblebee," he growled, dropping his gaze to the floor. "I should be..." He paused, his whole frame trembling, "I-I should be with..."

Bluestreak attempted to get up from his position to comfort his friend. Bumblebee followed suite.

"I'm leaving," Sunstreaker suddenly looked up from his daze at his two friends, his optics ablaze with fury.

"Leaving?" Bumblebee repeated, not quite sure he wanted to know what was on the yellow twin's mind.

"I belong with my brother!" Sunstreaker spat. "Either that or helping Prime take down the slagger who did this."

The minute the words were out in the open, he felt that they had been the wrong thing to say. Bluestreak cut in before he could attempt to correct it, however. "Getting angry won't help Sideswipe," he soothed. "For all we know, it might even be making things worse. Bumblebee's right. You need to stay calm."

"Calm?!" Sunstreaker nearly shrieked. "I'm going to find that 'Con, and I'm not going to stop until he's a mangled pile of slag at my feet!"

The yellow twin shoved past Bluestreak in frustration. "Stay out of my way," he growled.

"You can't just leave!" Bumblebee protested in dismay, but his words went unheeded. He stopped, watching Sunstreaker storm out of the room, and a helpless feeling settled in his spark.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N Sorry the long wait in between chapters. There was a moment, a rather long moment too, where we had no idea what to write. Hopefully, we'll work through this bout of writer's block and get the next chapter written pronto! :) Thanks to all who've read/reviewed/followed/favorited so far!**

 **Disclaimer: Nope, we still don't own Transformers! Maybe a few toys, some comic books, but the characters? Nope.**

"Decepticons incoming!" Hound didn't hesitate to notify, his optics shooting up from the scanner to watch the distant figures steadily approaching their position from the air.

Smokescreen lept up, immediately readying his weapons. "Well, that was fast!" He glanced over at Mirage, a satisfied smirk on his face.

Mirage simply shrugged. "They do love their energon."

"Autobots, places," Optimus ordered, mentally preparing himself. "And whatever happens, remember that Sky Warp is unharmed. We need him if we hope to save Sideswipe."

"Oh he'll be unharmed alright," Smokescreen mumbled just loud enough for Mirage to hear.

The Autobot saboteur cast his younger companion an amused smile. "You can count on us, Prime," he said, turning to their leader.

Optimus nodded his helm. "Hound, what is the count?" he asked, walking over to stand behind the green bot.

The tracker glanced down to the scanner. "Four mechs it appears. Two seekers covering the rear," Hound paused to focus on the incoming enemies. "Though there's a few smaller forms on the right flank. Possibly mini-cons. They're not showing up on the scan."

"Who's in front?" Smokescreen asked eagerly.

Hound scrutinized his readings. "Larger frame, he's giving off a strong signal."

Smokescreen gazed into the distance, servo hovering over his optics to block the sunlight, a posture he had adopted from his human friends. Large, threatening frame, silver paint glimmering in the light, a black arm-weapon... a plasma cannon... held forward aggressively. The details became clearer as they approached.

"Uh oh, guys," the young Autobot gulped, suddenly feeling a whole less excited about the mission. "I think we might be up against-"

"Megatron," Optimus growled, his fist clenching.

Optimus placed a servo on Smokescreen's shoulder-plate. "Get back." The younger Autotbot complied without protest as his leader continued "Let me handle Megatron. Hound, can you tell if Skywarp is with them?"

"Uh..." Hound checked his scanner, but anything he might have said was quickly drowned out as a massive blast rocked the ground.

"Autobots!"

The sneer rang in Optimus' audials as he covered himself from the debris of the explosion, his systems jumping to help stabilize his sensors. The Autobot leader quickly regained his balance, readying his weapons before standing straight up.

Somewhere above him he heard the buzzing and twisting sound of transformation before several figures landed heavily on the ground, their frames partially shaded in the smoke.

"Optimus Prime," the largest of the party chuckled as the mist cleared around him, "how good it is to see you again."

The Prime couldn't help but scowl at the grinning figures.

"I wish I could share your sentiments, Megatron," Optimus responded coldly, "but we are here for a reason."

"And so are we, Prime," Megatron answered. "The energon. Now!"

Behind the Prime, Smokescreen sidestepped closer to Hound. "They didn't even bring Skywarp," he growled, finding it hard to believe that they'd put in all this effort for their teammate... only to have it dissolve into nothing. "And things are looking like they're going to get ugly."

Hound brought a finger to his mouth to silence Smokescreen. "That's why we have plan B, remember?" he whispered.

"My patience is stretching thin, Optimus," Megatron growled, his plasma cannon raising. "Far too thin."

"You are not the only one losing patience, Megatron," Optimus ground out.

The decepticon leader curled his lip in a furious scowl, his arm-canon suddenly coming to life with a static blue charge.

Optimus dodged the blast just in time, the heat of its energy barely grazing his shoulder. The Prime swiftly regained his stance and turned with narrowed optics back to his foes.

Megatron met his gaze with a gruesome smile before allowing his eyes to drift over the other Autobots present.

"Decepticons, eliminate these pests," the silver mech growled to his companions, the uninterested tone of his voice enough to make the Autobots cringe. "I shall deal with the Prime myself."

"I thought you'd never ask, Lord High Commander," Starscream hissed as he aimed his weapons, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I'd like to see you try," Smokescreen snarled, pushing past Hound and firing off a round at the red and white Seeker. Starscream's optics widened momentarily before he dove to the side to avoid taking the brunt of the blast.

"You'll suffer dearly for that, Autobot!" Starscream shrieked, picking himself out of the sand and blindly firing a volley of shots at them.

"Look out!" Hound collided with Smokescreen, knocking him down out of harm's way as the lasers sailed over their heads.

"All right, Mirage," he whispered, turning to their companion who had hit the ground behind them, "get ready to do your stuff."

The saboteur flashed his companions a smile. "I'm always ready," he said, readying himself to breach their cover.  
Hound smirked as Mirage vanished from his sight, only the unsettled dust betraying his position as he jumped over the rocky bulge of their cover.  
The green Autobot then turned to his younger comrade.  
Smokescreen nodded; he still didn't completely get the plan, but Hound seemed confident enough. He could only hope everything would work out.


End file.
